Broken Window
by kevin the bird
Summary: "Someone threw a brick into Mel and Lindsay's window," Justin replied. "And we all felt like it was safer if they came over here," he added. Before Debbie could say anything, JR outstretched her arms towards her from Justin's embrace.


When the window broke and a brick landed on the floor of the house, no one knew what had happened. And then it hit everyone. Someone had thrown a brick through the window knowing that a lesbian couple lived there and that they had another gay couple over. Within seconds of everything happening, a scream from JR, who had been sleeping, was heard from her room. Lindsay ran up the stairs quickly while Brian and Justin charged the door and tried to find the fucker who had thrown the brick, but to no avail. Whoever had done it was long gone. Mel grabbed Gus from where he was sitting on the couch, who was watching TV, and bundled him up in her embrace while Lindsay brought their daughter down. The crying had stopped, but fear was evident on the one-year-old's face.

Justin and Brian both walked back into the house, shutting the front door behind them. Both of them were fuming with anger. When Justin noticed the frightened look on both JR and Gus' face, he looked to their parents.

"Are they okay?" he asked, his anger leaving him immediately, not wanting to scare them anymore then they already were.

"They're a little scared," Mel replied as she looked at Gus and then at JR. "But they'll be okay."

"Someone should bring them to Deb's," Brian interjected, not paying much attention to the conversation at hand. He was only thinking of the safety of Gus and JR. He trusted Deb and Carl, especially knowing that Carl was a cop.

"I'll do it," Justin offered. Brian nodded his head at the idea of Justin taking Gus and JR to their grandparents house, approving of the idea. He felt better knowing Justin and the kids wouldn't be there. So while Brian paced around the house, figuring out what to do next and who could do such a thing, Mel, Lindsay and Justin got everything Gus and JR would need for an overnight stay at Deb and Carl's. When they finished, Justin loaded them into the car and drove over to the house that was like a second home to him. When he arrived, he unloaded the car, kids and all, and walked up to the front door, softly knocking at the door. Debbie had told him numerous times that he didn't have to knock, but he had heard stories from Emmett about Debbie and Carl's sex life and the last thing he wanted was for them to walk in on them having sex. He didn't want to see it and he didn't want the kids to see it. Within seconds Debbie was at the door, opening it.

"Justin, honey-" she started.

"I know, I don't have to knock," Justin said, stopping Deb mid-sentence, as he looked behind him. He was still freaked out about what had happened and he wanted to make sure no one had followed him. "Can we come in?" he asked. When she noticed the over night bags, Debbie looked at Justin with a confused expression on her face.

"Yeah, of course," she said as she stepped out of the way, letting Justin and her grandkids into the house. "What's going on? Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Someone threw a brick into Mel and Lindsay's window," Justin replied. "And we all felt like it was safer if they came over here," he added. Before Debbie could say anything, JR outstretched her arms towards her from Justin's embrace. Now that Debbie was working less at the diner, she had more time to spend with her grandkids and while Gus loved and trusted Debbie, he didn't spend as much time with Debbie when he was JR's age as his little sister did, so JR felt more comfort from being held by Debbie then Gus did (and the fact that Gus was, in his own words, a big boy). But that wasn't to say that Gus didn't find comfort in Debbie's presence because he still spent quite a bit of time with the older women, which was evident in how close he was standing next to his grandmother. Carl, on the other hand, was a different story. He idolized the man. Watching him do detective like things made him want to be a cop when he was older, so he wanted to be just like him.

Debbie moved JR so she was resting on her hip and then wrapped her free arm around Gus' shoulders. Gus stepped into the embrace, resting his head against her body. Justin could sense the fear they still felt. Despite not knowing what had happened or the motivation behind it, they were still scared.

"Why don't you go up and see Guppy, sweetie?" Debbie asked Gus, who immediately scaled the stairs and went into the master bedroom. A smile tugged at the corners of Justin's mouth at how quickly Gus made his way up the stairs.

"No one got hurt, did they?" Debbie asked. Justin just shook his head in denial. "Good," she added at the answer.

"I should probably get back there," Justin said. "I'm sure there's smoke coming from Brian's ears," he added. Debbie just nodded her head.

"Let me know what happens," she replied as Justin rested the bags he had carried in down and turned around, exiting the house.

"Hey, Deb?" he called out before shutting the door. Debbie was just about to start walking up the stairs when Justin called her name. "Keep them close for the night, just in case," he said before he closed the door. Debbie nodded her head and walked up the stairs, planting a soft kiss on JR's head. JR had rested her head against Debbie's shoulder and she had quite the death grip on her shirt. Debbie then walked into the master bedroom, where Gus was already in bed next to Carl. Carl was sitting up straight, resting against the headboard, with Gus using his body to rest against. From the looks of it, Gus wasn't frightened anymore, being cuddled up against Carl. Hearing Debbie walk into the room, Carl looked up at her.

"What happened?" he asked. "Is everything okay?" he added as Debbie crawled into the bed next to him.

"Someone threw a brick into Mel and Lindsay's window," Debbie replied as she set JR down in her lap and kissed Carl on the lips. Gus made a disgusted facial expression.

"Ew," he said. Debbie leaned over and started to tickle Gus, who laughed in return.

"Ew back to you, mister," Debbie said as she laughed as well. That's when Carl started to laugh at the sound of the innocent laughter of his grandchild and Debbie's laughter. When Debbie stopped and rested into the headboard, JR moved around so she was resting against her grandmother's body. Debbie draped her arms around the one-year-old and planted another soft kiss on her head. "You're still scared, aren't you, sweetheart?" she asked. JR nuzzled Debbie's chest while Carl watched on, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"I think she feels better now that she's with her grandmother," Carl said as he let his hand wonder to Debbie's, who intertwined her fingers with his. Gus was starting to fall asleep, his head resting against Carl's chest, so Debbie leaned over and stole another kiss from Carl.

"Stop it, Grammy," he said sleepily. "That's gross," he added. Debbie laughed and leaned over to give Gus a kiss.

"Now you get one," she said, getting a laugh from Gus in response. "I love you, honey," Debbie added as Gus' eyes started to droop even more.

"I love you too," he said as he let his hand wonder over to his grandmother's hand, which was still intertwined with Carl's. She pulled her hand away from Carl's and held Gus' small hand. Within minutes the boy was sleeping, JR following close behind.

"I think it's safe to say we've got two sleeping kids," Carl said as he looked at his grandkids.

"That we do," Debbie replied with a smile on her face as she also looked at her grandkids. She then leaned over and gave Carl one last kiss. "I think they have the right idea," she said as she laughed. That's when Debbie started to move JR around so she was laying in the bed next to her and moved down so she was also lying down. Carl followed suit and moved Gus around enough so he too could lay down.

"Deb, honey?" Carl asked as he leaned over and turned the lights off.

"Hmm?" Debbie breathed.

"I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
